This was only my second cruise; my first was last year on the Holland America Noordam in the Eastern Mediterranean for ten days. In general, I have to say I am still a Holland America fan. However, I did have a relaxing time and enjoyed the ports of call very much. Emrbakation involved standing in line for about 40 minutes in a dirty room at the Port of Tampa, in a big zig-zagging queue. (I think the Holland America touch of offering lemonade, water and cookies while you wait to check in is very nice, and Carnival should take notes). Sail away lunch was crowded, but that is to be expected. (Here, again, I thought the buffett offerings on the Noordam were much nicer - I had some very lovely cheeses, pate, a salad of field greens and fruit). I had a salad of iceberg lettuce (could have had Romaine, but no field greens), and cold cuts (basically sliced american or swiss, and sliced ham or turkey). Not all that great - I can buy better at my supermarket. The room was very spacious and comfortable, with plenty of storage space. We had pre-ordered Grey Goose vodka from Bon Voyage and it was there waiting for us, just as promised. This room is described as "extended balcony." The balcony was only large enough to hold two chairs and a tiny metal table. (We had an Aft extended balcony on the noordam and had a lounger, a large chair, a footstool and a table, and had enough room beyond all that furniture to lay another lounger, had we wanted to!). The aft view is great, and we enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed a lounger, too. The bathroom was very small, but had ample storage. No tub (had one on the Noordam) and it SMELLED! Yuck! The smell came and went, but it was definitely a sewer-ish sort of smell. Others in our Roll Call described a similar situation with their cabin, but others, even next door to us, didn't have the issue. So apparently it was a hit or miss thing. Too bad. Our room steward was very friendly, and the room was always spotless, even though we hardly ever saw him. FOOD: Our first dinner was VERY dissappointing. I ordered something called Mediterranean Chicken (I think) which was supposed to be herb crusted and seasoned. It came atop rigatoni with store bought pasta sauce, had no flavor (despite green flecks of somthing all over it) and had the consistency of rubber. Yuck! Our waiter, Naidu, was FABULOUS! He noticed I didn't like my food and we started talking about what I like and don't like to eat. He found out I like Indian food. The chef on board was Indian, and made Indian dishes for the staff dinners every night. Naidu told us we could have staff food as well, if we let them know a day ahead of time we would like it, so they could put it aside for us. So we had Indian food (three different entrees, plus rice, raita, papadam, etc.) every night except the two formal nights. It was DELICIOUS! And so much better than the regular food, which was really mediocre at best. I am allergic to chocolate so I didn't try the much touted "Chocolate Melting Cake." We ordered the deluxe wine package and enjoyed the selection of wines with dinner. I have to say that the dining room staff was friendlier than on the Noordam and, although I loved the Holland America food, I loved the Carnival food servers! They all seemed to truly enjoy their jobs. Naidu and the cocktail waiter Jerry were my favorites. The cruise director, Wee Jimmy, is hysterical!!! I loved him. He made every day announcements entertaining. He is wonderful. The shows were pretty good. I know a lot of people here have complained about Barbi, the blonde lead singer, but she really is a good singer; she just has a different tone quality to her voice, which not all people might like. (I feel at liberty to say this because I am a trained singer with a music degree in classical singing.). I found the comedians entertaining, for the most part. In the evenings, we would have appreciated a venue for more "classical" style dancing (we like ballroom) - this happened sometimes at the Firebird lounge, but usually when we were eating our late seating dinner, so we couldn't avail ourselves of the opportunity. The ports were great, and getting on and off the ship was rather painless. There were 500 kids on board that week because it was Tampa's public schools' spring break, but we never saw them. Therefore, the Camp Carnival staff must run great programs! All in all, it was the relaxing week away from work that we needed, and I think a great value for families, but I would have appreciated a non-stinky bathroom, and a few more nice touches. Oh, and as a final comparison, while we were docked in Isla Roatan, the Holland America Ryndam, which left Tampa a few minutes after us, was there as well. While it was docked, they rigged a scaffolding on a winch, and had workers out there touching up the paint on the hull of the ship! I saw lots of rust spots on the exterior of the Legend that could have used some touch up - too bad they don't do this at Carnival either. Like I said... I appreciated the little touches, but it was a good value. If you like Indian food, you'll be fine!